1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of toilet bowl cleaning systems, and more specifically to a system wherein the drain in the toilet bowl is sealed off so the water level in the toilet bowl raises to a preferred level and cleaning solution is added to the water hence cleaning the bowl.
2. Description of Prior Art
While there are many ways to clean a toilet bowl, most of them involve a person scrubbing with a brush or by hand the toilet bowl. These methods may be effective, but they also require the person cleaning the bowl to place their hands in the bowl and also get them wet and covered with toilet bowl water. Also, the way toilet bowls work, a certain level of water is maintained in the toilet bowl. At the edge of the water level, dirt and stains can accumulate, which are difficult to remove and give the appearance of an unkept toilet bowl.
One method of cleaning toilet bowls that does not require the person cleaning the toilet bowl to submerge their hands into the toilet bowl is a method of covering the drain inside the toilet bowl so that water builds up within the toilet bowl and adding some kind of cleaning solution or agent and allowing it to remain in the toilet bowl thereby reducing the dirt and grime within the toilet bowl. The person cleaning the bowl can then brush the bowl or simply flush it, allowing it to rinse itself out.
There are many ways of accomplishing the aforementioned cleaning systems, a few of which are disclosed in the U.S. patents issued to Maxfield and McElroy, also the U.S. patent issued to Giubilo shows a device for covering a toilet bowl drain.
The patent issued to Don Maxfield, U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,577 entitled "Toilet Bowl Cleaning Device" discloses a plug member which is placed in the bottom of a toilet bowl and one end of a flexible tube is attached thereto. At the opposite end of the flexible tube is a block of water soluble material carrying a cleanser. The plug member and flexible tube are water soluble with the plug member carrying a cleanser. As the plug and block dissolve, they release the cleanser into the water in the bowl which helps to clean the toilet bowl. As the block member dissolves, it allows the flexible tube to fall into the toilet bowl. As the plug member dissolves, it allows the flexible tube to be flushed down the toilet. A drawback of the Maxfield system is that it takes a long time for the block and plug to dissolve. Also, the tube has to be flushed into the system. Another drawback is that the system is not reusable, a new block, tube and plug must be used for every cleaning. The amount of time it takes to use the presently claimed system effectively can be determined and controlled by the person cleaning the toilet bowl. The presently claimed invention is also reusable and easy to store.
The patent issued to John McElroy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,405, entitled "Toilet Bowl Cleaning System" shows a system having a stopper tool that is held in place over the toilet bowl drain and holding the flush handle until the water fills to the top of the bowl. A cleaning agent is then added to the water in the toilet bowl. The stopper tool is then removed from the toilet bowl and the toilet is flushed to rinse and clean the toilet bowl. A disadvantage of the McElroy cleaning system is that the flush handle must be held down until the desired water level is reached in the toilet bowl and also the stopper tool must be held in place while the toilet bowl is filling with water. The presently claimed invention does not require the flush handle to be held in place, nor does it require a stopper to be held in place in the toilet drain until the toilet bowl is filled with water. Once in place, the presently claimed invention is hands free to the person cleaning the toilet bowl.
The U.S. patent issued to Lauro Giubilo, U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,527, entitled "Temporary Stopper For Outlets Of Toilet Bowls" shows a stopper mechanism that can be placed in the drain in a toilet bowl while a handle, that is connected to the stopper through a Spring mechanism, is placed under the lip of the toilet bowl to keep the stopper in place. Decompressing the spring to place the handle in place can take some strength and energy and the process must be repeated to remove the stopper from the toilet bowl. The presently claimed invention is easy to install and no exorbitant amount of strength or energy are required or necessary to install and remove it from the toilet bowl.